Assessment of particles and bio-aerosols distributed within a building located in heavy traffic area

The aim of this study was the assessment of particles and bio-aerosols distributed within the building located in heavy traffic area. In this study we examined using particles (PM₁₀, PM_2.5) and bio-aerosols (TBC, Fungi) as metrics for air quality within a building located in heavy traffic area. The concentrations of particles and bio-aerosols were measured indoors and outdoors simultaneously using particles monitoring and Anderson samplers. Indoor PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 in the summer were 63.3-152.1 μg/m³ and 36.5-53.2 μg/m³, respectively. Indoor Bio-aerosols concentrations were always higher than outdoors. Indoor average bio-aerosols of both TBC and Fungi in the summer were 789.7 ± 237.6 CFU/m³ and 49.9 ± 19.3 CFU/m³ respectively. Higher level of outdoor PM₁₀ is due to vehicle exhaust emissions and that affected PM₁₀ concentrations on the 1^st floor and underground parking lot. Also, high level of PM₁₀ in any case and TBC on the floor within the building were mainly caused by air-conditioning and indoor sources. In this study we evaluated pollutants by comparing the level of particles and bio-aerosols within a building in which a ventilation system is not installed. The data also indicated that bio-aerosols vary significantly during the summer and between floors within the building. A long term investigations over all four seasons in the building are needed to assess the effect of seasonal weather patterns on indoor particles and bio-aerosols level.